Disklavier

I am the grown-up version of the 6-year-old who fell in love with my piano 
teacher's player piano.  It would take me another 30 years before I bought a 
broken one to take apart and restore.  To this day, I am awed by the 
simplicity of the design of the 5-valve air motor that sent a constant air 
pressure through the tracker bar that played the paper rolls.  How five 
little bends in an axle could be so brilliant!

I spent 10 years rebuilding pianos, using a Pianocorder vorsetzer to test 
and break in the new strings.  Those Pianocorder cassette tapes were the 
first translations of the paper piano rolls into electronic form.  The 
vorsetzer was a collection of 80 pinball solenoids hanging upside down that 
would play the piano keys.  The thing was adjustable to any keyboard height, 
and also played the pedals.

Eventually, the global economy made rebuilding American pianos not very 
competitive with new Asian piano prices so I became a field tuner/technician 
for a Steinway dealer for the next 9 years of my career.  I have been 
happily self employed for the past 6 years here in the Washington, D.C. area 
with a specialty in electronic midi player piano service - especially the 
Disklavier.  I own a fine Yamaha U1 upright piano with a MarkIIXG 
Disklavier.

My baby grandson seems to have more than a casual interest in my keyboard 
and piano.  When he stays over we always have to play the Disklavier before 
he goes to bed.  So I am motivated to learn more about music and how it is 
made in hopes of encouraging perhaps the next little Mozart!

Carol Beigel
crbrpt@...

>From: "Douglas J. Miller" <douglas@...>
>Reply-To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
>To: <disklavier@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: RE: [disklavier] Re: piano accompaniments (and Happy Holidays)
>Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 13:06:52 -0800
>
>Dear Ms. Beigel,
>
>Thank you for the wonderful email about learning piano / music theory!  You 
> >are so right! . . .
>
>Who are you, and from where do you hail?


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